The Y2K problem and Sign Estimator

What is the Y2K problem?

The Y2K (or Year 2000) problem is the term used to describe miscalculations in applications expected from December 31st 1999 to January 1st 2000.  Typically, computer systems and software applications have handled dates in DD/MM/YY or MM/DD/YY format, where YY represents the last two date digits of the calendar year.  Because the '19' part of the year entry is omitted, some systems will be unable to tell whether the century change is to 1900 or 2000.

What problems could arise?

If a computer cannot determine the century (i.e. 1900 or 2000) any date calculations will be erroneous.  Systems may fail to display the correct date or fail to determine which of two dates come first and thus miscalculate time intervals.  These types of mistakes will lead to errors in such things as failures to issue invoices or schedule deliveries on the correct day.  For computers that use a four digit date-recording mechanism, there will not be the same problems unless the software application or operating system also has a Y2K problem.

Sign Estimator and Y2K readiness.

The current versions of Sign Estimator, which are available for download in the downloads section of this website, are fully compliant to Standards Australia document MP-77 and the British Standards Institution document DISC PD 2000-1.  While these versions of Sign Estimator are fully compliant, older versions and other parts of your total computer system, such as the PC BIOS and/or Operating System, may not be.  Users may need to test this other equipment for compliance and contact the respective manufacturers for additional information to help ensure full system compliance.